The present invention is directed to a patient positioning apparatus for positioning a patient on a patient support structure, such as a surgical table, for a medical procedure. In particular, the present invention is directed to an apparatus for performing a “sandwich and roll” procedure while transferring a patient in a supine position from a bed, gurney or trolley to a prone position on the surgical table.
Certain surgical procedures require changing a patient's body position during said procedure. For example, spinal surgery may require turning the patient over from a prone position to a supine position, and vice versa. When a standard surgical table is used, turning the patient over, or taking a radiograph, often requires transferring the patient between the surgical table and another support, and then back again. Such transfer procedures interrupt the surgical procedure, are cumbersome, and may compromise the surgical site.
Some modern surgical tables, such as modular, multi-articulated patient support systems, have been developed for supporting the patient in a variety of positions and for moving the patient's body in various ways during a surgical procedure, including articulating the patient at the hips, placing the patient in Trendelenburg and reverse-Trendelenburg positions, tilting the patient, and turning the patient over. Such patient support systems typically include a base with a pair of independently adjustable telescoping columns that are connected by and support an articulatable patient support or table top. The patient support may be raised and lowered, tilted and rotated about a longitudinal axis in horizontal and tilted orientations. During some surgeries, a traditional closed patient support is replaced with an open frame patient support that allows the patient's abdomen to depend therethrough.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,261 to Jackson, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes a closed frame modular, multi-articulated patient support system with independently adjustable head- and foot-end telescoping risers, which are connected by an adjustable cross-beam, and which support a patient support structure that may be raised, lowered and rotated about a longitudinal axis in various horizontal and tilted orientations. A secondary elevator enables lowering of the foot-end of the patient support to near the floor. A patient placed on the patient support can be rotated 180° after installation of a stationary riser and an imaging table that sandwiches the patient against the patient support.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,565,708 to Jackson, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes an infinitely adjustable open-frame patient support system, wherein the frame can be articulated near a middle thereof, as well as being raised, lowered and rotated about a longitudinal axis in various horizontal and tilted orientations. An imaging table may be attached to and spaced from the patient support, for turning the patient 180°, however, the distance between the patient support and the imaging table must be adjusted manually.
Prior to a surgical procedure, a patient is usually anaesthetized and then place of the patient support. Since the patient starts in a supine position on a gurney, also referred to as a trolley or a stretcher, and must be transferred to a prone position on an open frame support, such positioning procedures can be quite difficult. Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus for positioning a patient on a surgical table in the prone position.